Audiences are invited to journey through the life and work of one of Britain’s finest-ever artists in Modern Life: The LS Lowry Collection.
Fittingly housed at The Lowry, the exhibition is the world’s largest public collection of LS Lowry’s paintings and drawings.
This diverse showcase includes some of Lowry’s most famous industrial vistas and the iconic ‘matchstick people’ with which he became so synonymous. Elsewhere, there are rural landscapes, turbulent seascapes and hauntingly immersive and evocative portraits, notably Father and Two Sons, 1950, and Head of a Man, 1938.
The exhibition begins with an overview of Lowry’s early life in Pendlebury, Salford, described through the words of writer Robert Roberts, who grew up in the city during the same period as the artist. Famously, Lowry’s childhood in the industrial working-class communities of Northern England provided great inspiration for the artwork he would later produce.
Lowry’s work was a blend of real life surroundings and vivid imagination. This exhibition does a fantastic job of capturing that, presenting his observational, impulsive sketches — done in pencil and ballpoint pen on scraps of paper and envelopes — alongside the respective completed painting. The viewer can clearly see Lowry’s progression from roughly sketched ideas through to the finished piece, which is not necessarily always faithful to its original plan.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of the exhibition is an interactive scent installation. Created by Tasha Marks, visitors are transported by smell to mid-20th century Salford, providing an extra immersion into the reality which inspired Lowry’s work.
An intimate view of Lowry’s daily life is offered through a short film, while other personal artefacts include palettes and brushes, still covered in paint.
Entry to Modern Life: The LS Lowry Collection is free. The gallery is open every Tue – Sun, find more information here.
- Words:
- Ellie McCreedy
- Published on:
- Thu 6 Mar 2025
